Following in His Father’s Footsteps
Fighting In Korea
On the night of November 27, 1950, PFC Joe Dunford, a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) gunner, sat shivering in his foxhole at Yudam-ni, a village deep in the mountains of North Korea. It was his 20th birthday.
Having already fought at the Pusan Perimeter, Inchon, and Seoul, Dunford, like all the Marines in Baker Company, 1st Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, was hoping to be home by Christmas. But it didn't happen. Later that night thousands of Chinese hit their position.
The ensuing two-week-long Battle of Chosin Reservoir would forever change the young man’s life. It would also have a lasting impact on his son.
Like Father, Like Son
Sixty-five years later on October 1, 2015, Joe Dunford's son, General Joseph F. Dunford, became the highest ranking and most senior military officer in the United States: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
General Dunford credits his father, who finished his Marine Corps career as a sergeant and spent forty years as a Boston policeman, as his inspiration for becoming a Marine. “I am still trying to get over the bar that he set many, many years ago,” Dunford said in 2017 Department of Defense interview.
Commissioned a Marine infantry officer in 1977, General Dunford has held almost every key billet in the Marine Corps, including Battalion, Regimental, and Marine Expeditionary Force Commander and 36th Commandant of the Marine Corps.
He also fought in Iraq for nearly two years, where he served under General James Mattis and earned his nickname “Fightin’ Joe;” and Afghanistan, where he served as Commander of UN and US Forces for 18 months.
The Chosin Few
In his current office in Washington, DC, Gen. Dunford proudly displays three pictures of men who fought at Chosin: two of his father and one of his father’s company commander, Captain Ike Fenton.
“It is no exaggeration to say that I am a United States Marine because of the Marines who served at Chosin,” Dunford told a reporter during a Chosin Few Memorial dedication at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in May 2017.
Today we salute PFC Dunford, his son, and all the brave warriors who have fought, sacrificed, and died for America’s freedom and the freedom of our allies. We honor you and thank you for your service!
Semper Fi!
Top/Feature picture: PFC Joe Dunford, USMC, during the Korean War (Photo credit: David Douglas Duncan)
Joe is needed now to speak out to restore the unit cohesion that protected Marines like his father at Chosin, and my father at Guadalcanal. Please ask him to contact me to discuss how to carry on our father’s legacies as examples of what a few good men can accomplish. Thanks
Thanks for reading the blog and commenting, David.
We salute your father for his service during WWII and appreciate your continuing to honor these Marines.
Many apologies for the late response to your comment.
[…] was born for the job. The son of a Marine who fought at Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, he grew up in Quincy, Mass., a working-class […]
General Joe Dunford is my hero. We both served together in 1981-1982 on Okinawa. Joe was the finest, professional 1stLt that I have ever served with. I knew at that time he would become a General officer. I met his father in 2010 at 8th+I Barracks when Joe was promoted to four stars and the position of Assistant Commandant. The both are “Top of the line” Semper-Fi my Brothers!
Thanks for sharing your story, Jack. General Dunford is a great American and an outstanding Marine and leader. What an honor to have served with him!
Semper Fi!